In this episode of Getting to the Deal, Krystyn Harrison talks with Alan Wood, founder of Rally Beer Company, who built Canada's first electrolyte-rich functional beer from a $2,000 garage setup to $1 million in revenue in just 27 months before selling to Muskoka Brewery for approximately $2 million. The remarkable part: he raised only $920,000 while competitors were raising $20-100 million, and everyone on the cap table got their money back.
Alan shares the hard lessons of his first exit—why raising money felt like success when he should have focused on unit economics from day one, why strategic exits are sometimes better than optimal exits, and how "beautiful naivete" helped him move fast despite minimal validation. He reveals why he struggled for 18 months with the fear of "touching fire again" before building his next venture, FRAPS Institute, with no outside capital, better margins, and 100% optionality.
If you're a founder competing in an impossible category with limited capital or feeling underfunded compared to competitors, this conversation will reframe how you think about capital efficiency, sustainable growth, and building a business where everyone wins—even when you're not the unicorn in the room.
